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preface
As the reform committee began to take control, a sense of purpose, even excitement, gradually spread. Volunteers practiced in the square and dug trenches. Ambulances and nursing teams were established. 3 Maxim guns were taken out and exhibited at the RAND Club. A cavalry regiment - "Bttingham's War Horse" - appeared.
However, like the members of the reform commission, the population is eager to avoid going on a rampage. In a report to The Times on Tuesday, Younghusband wrote: "The news of the advance of armed groups from Bechuanaland is not very popular. In addition to defence, there is a general desire in society for more armed conflicts and the undermining of the independence of the Republic. ”
Krueger also doesn't want a fight in Johannesburg. He was not sure how well armed the enemy was. On instructions from Pretoria, the police in Johannesburg withdrew to the barracks. Government officials in Johannesburg were told to act as "peace committees" to negotiate with the rebels; Pretoria sent a special envoy. Kruger told them: "When I put out fires at the border, I must not let the backyard of Johannesburg catch fire. The Reform Council decided to send a delegation to Pretoria, increasingly confident that Jensen's troops would soon arrive and would give them great power.
Phillips led the delegation to Krueger officials: "We have rifles in one hand and friendship in the other. "When asked how the Government could be sure that the identities of the members of the reform committees, which were unknown in Pretoria, could be sure that they represented the people of Johannesburg, the delegation sent a shocking naïve telegram requesting a full list of members and handing it over to Kruger officials. This list is the only evidence obtained by the Government, on the basis of which they ordered the arrest of the entire reform commission. The delegation, convinced that the Government had no intention of attacking them, returned to Johannesburg cheerfully.
Johannesburg openly rebelled
After defusing the threat of an overt insurgency in Johannesburg, Krueger had to deal with the constant advance of Janssen's troops. Jensen's column set out from Malmani and headed east for Krugsdorp, a village 20 miles from Johannesburg, but soon discovered that they had lost their surprise advantage. On this route, they walked only a few hours and were followed by a small group of armed Boers. On Monday night, as Jensen stopped to rest, he received a message from the local Boer commander asking him to return.
Jensen replied: "I intend to continue with my original plan. And with the forged "invitation" as a reason. His troops, he said, were "not hostile to the Transvaal people" but had "come at the invitation of the broad masses of the people of the Rand to assist them in obtaining justice and in obtaining the rights that citizens of every civilized nation are entitled to". Early Tuesday morning, when a courier from Newton, Britain's commissioner in Mefugen, arrived, Jensen's army had been on its way overnight. Newton brought a sealed package containing Sir Robinson 's order for Jensen to return. However, Jensen ignored it.
On Wednesday morning, Sir Jacobus de Witt, the British Special Envoy to Pretoria, sent another messenger to send the same order to Jensen: Her Majesty's Government completely disagrees with your invasion of the Transvaal by force, and your actions will be condemned. You are ordered to withdraw immediately from the country and will be held personally responsible for the consequences of taking unauthorized and most inappropriate actions.
Jensen again ignored the order. He had advanced 150 miles towards the Transvaal and was now just a few miles from Krugersdorp. Although his men were tired and hungry, he was confident that he would reach Johannesburg. Apart from minor skirmishes, the Boer grouping following him did not show any intention of engaging his troops. At Krugsdorp, however, Commander Boer assembled a force of 500 men to defend the village and condescended over a ridge 3 miles away.
Janssen's military commander, Sir John Willoughby, wanted to avoid Krugsdorp, but Jensen insisted on going there, expecting to find supplies and meet reinforcements from Johannesburg who were waiting for him. Willoughby shelled the positions of the Boers and then ordered a frontal attack. An advance party was hit by Boer fire while marching on the ridge, about 30 people were killed or wounded, another 30 were captured while looking for shelter, and the rest retreated.
On 2 January 1896 , blocked by Boer militia , Jansen's expeditionaries were forced to bypass Krugsdorp. They were surrounded near a hill called Dornkop. Exhausted, the number of casualties was rising, and after a short battle, they decided to surrender. They got the white apron of a nanny in a nearby house and raised it as a white flag. One of the Boer commanders, Pete Cronie, said they looked dirty and pitiful, and some stood on the side crying. He added that Jensen was "trembling like a reed."
Krugersdorp Hospital
Jubert ordered the wounded members of the Janssen expedition to be taken to the hospital at Krugsdorp. Jensen and about 400 other members were sent to Pretoria prison. Sir Charjos Robinson did everything he could to clean up the pieces. From the first time he heard about Rhodes' conspiracy, he tried to distance himself from it. He told Bauer in November 1895: "I think the whole plan is complete banditry. "Now, although he suffers from heart disease and his legs are swollen, he has to face the consequences. On the evening of January 2, he boarded a train from Cape Town to Pretoria in an attempt to reach a deal with Kruger to avoid war.
Bauer accompanied him, equally worried. "In January 1896," he recalled, "the question of peace and war was put on the scales, swaying from side to side. Day after day, hour after hour, in which direction the scales will tilt, I really can't predict. "The crisis is indeed becoming more and more complex. In London, Chamberlain ordered two British legions to assemble in the Cape Colony in case of an uprising in Johannesburg.
In Cape Town, Hofmeyer, convinced that a British conspiracy was going on against the Transvaal, told Chamberlain that Rhodes' British South Africa Company was "a dangerous source of threat to public peace in southern Africa" and demanded a full investigation into the company. Bauer feared that Chamberlain would rather go to war than investigate Rhodes for fear of revealing his involvement in Rhodes' conspiracy. In Pretoria, after defeating Jensen, Kruger's commanders marched on Johannesburg to clear the rebels.
At the same time, due to the publication of the "Women and Children Invitation Letter" in The Times, British public opinion became fond of Jensen. Chamberlain found his decision to publicly deny the invasion unpopular. In the headlines on Jan. 2, The Times exerted further pressure. The Times claimed that by denying Jensen, Chamberlain "saved" the Boer government, and therefore he had a moral responsibility to change it. On January 3, Robinson was sitting on a train bound for Pretoria when another time bomb exploded: Germany.
Britain incited against Kruger
The Germans became increasingly dissatisfied with the frequent invasion of the Transvaal by the British inciting opposition to Kruger. On December 24, the German consul in Pretoria reported to Berlin that "British gangs" in Johannesburg were believed to be "causing trouble in the coming days". On 28 December, the British ambassador to Berlin was told that the German government could not accept "the status quo [of the Transvaal] moving in the direction demanded by Cecil Rhodes." Chamberlain denied he had orchestrated any change. However, Jensen's invasion of the Transvaal from British Bechuanaland seemed to confirm German suspicions of British involvement and inflamed public opinion in Germany.
Krueger made clear that he looked forward to Germany's support. As soon as he heard the news of Jensen's defeat, the German emperor decided to send a telegram congratulating Kruger. This telegram was made public on 3 January: I extend my sincere congratulations to you that you and your people, without requesting the assistance of friendly countries, have succeeded in re-establishing peace and defending the country's independence from foreign aggression by confronting the armed groups that invaded your country in an attempt to undermine the peace.
In Britain, public opinion was in an uproar. The media were outraged by Germany's attempts to challenge British hegemony in southern Africa, and by the Kaiser's suggestion that Germany would help Krueger if he needed it. Jensen's expedition was soon forgotten. Now what matters is the threat of German aggression. The Kaiser's maternal grandmother, Queen Victoria, immediately rebuked him: I deeply regret the telegram you sent to President Kruger. It is considered very unfriendly to the mainland, and I don't want to feel that way, but I regret to say that it does make a very bad impression.
Kaiser Wilhelm responded just as quickly and sharply: Most beloved grandmother, this telegram was never sent against Britain or your government. (I thought the expeditionaries were) a rabble of gold prospectors ... A group of people of all nationalities, I never thought that there were real British or officers among them ... I am on the side of law and order, and I am also on the side of national sovereignty, which I revere and love.
Resources:
"Keeping the Enemy at Bay": The Extermination of Wild Carnivora in the Cape Colony, 1889-1910. Lance van Sittert.Environmental History,1998
THE NIGHT OF THE JACKAL: SHEEP, PASTURES AND PREDATORS IN THE CAPE. Beinart William.Past & Present,1998
Recent developments in the control of vertebrate problem animals in the Province of the Cape of Good Hope, Republic of South Africa. Hey Douglas.Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference,1967